


All Is Fair In Love And War

by The_Blind_Umbreon



Series: Good men don't need rules [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-10-22 01:52:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17653772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Blind_Umbreon/pseuds/The_Blind_Umbreon
Summary: Crane Orso is a member of the 101st Airborne Division about to drop down near Normandy to help defeat the Nazi forces holding the beach. Instead, he finds himself in a land where there is no threat of Nazis. Now he has to find out how to live a life in a completely new world.





	1. Prolauge

**Please excuse any historical inaccuracies.**

**I do not own Pokemon. That belongs to its respective owner**

* * *

Crane's hands started to cramp up as he held tightly to the rails at the side of the aircraft, Staring at the floor trying to keep himself relaxed.

"Calm down man, we're going to be fine. Just because this is our first jump doesn't mean we are any worse off than the others." the man beside him declared with a chuckle.

Crane loosened his grip slightly and looked at the man.

"You seem confident, Mike. Got something up your sleeve?"

Mike smiled.

"Yes, I do."

Crane raised his eyebrow.

"Okay, what do you have up your sleeve, then?"

"A piece of chocolate." Mike reached up into his sleeve, pulled out some chocolate, and ate it.

"Screw you, Mike," Crane said smiling, his nerves relaxing slightly.

"SHUT IT! WE'RE NEARING THE DZ!" A man shouted from the front of the plane, "GET READY!"

"Brace yourselves!" The voice of the pilot echoed through the plane. Tracers of the flak rounds rose up from the sky, leaving a hail of shrapnel rounds wherever they exploded. The aircraft started shaking violently from the force of the explosions.

A red light lit up near the entrance.

"RED LIGHT! STAND UP!" The paratroopers immediately got on their feet and awaited orders.

"HOOK UP!" Everyone simultaneously hooked up their static lines to the railing above their heads. The captain looked out the door and down at the ground, waiting impatiently for the LZ to get close enough.

"WHAT THE HELL'S THE HOLD-UP?!" An AA round burst right next to the plane, making Crane's right ear ring and knocking the paratroopers off their feet. The paratroopers yelled at each other in panic. Shards of shrapnel lit up the engine on the right side of the plane. The engine was engulfed in flames as the fuel inside ignited, and with the engine no longer functioning, the propeller struggled to keep spinning. A loud shuddering noise blared through the plane as it started descending.

There was a sudden lurch to the side as the craft started to lose attitude, swooping the troopers onto the right side of the plane. The captain struggled to his feet, desperately holding onto the railing for balance. The blinking, malfunctioning light finally turned green as the plane fell over the LZ.

"GREEN LIGHT! GO GO-"

Another AA round erupted near the plane's entrance, launching shrapnel into the plane and incapacitating the captain. Crane watched on in horror as the captain was launched to the back of the plane with a huge piece of burning metal lodged in his head.

"CAPTAIN'S DOWN!" Crane heard screams and yells from every direction as more explosions rocked the plane, throwing the paratroopers around like they were toys. " LET'S GO!"

Nobody protested and they started jumping out of the plane one by one. While in the air it seemed almost peaceful until Crane noticed that his parachute had failed to open. He yanked his reserve chute. To his relief, it opened perfectly, slowing his descent. His relief was cut off almost instantaneously as Nazis opened fire on him, tearing his reserve chute apart. He plummeted to the ground. Crane screamed and flailed through the air as the ground approached. It didn't take long for him to collide against the ground. An audible crunch could be heard as all of the bones in his body were broken simultaneously. The world cut to black as his lifeless body rolled onto the ground.

* * *

Crane opened his eyes found that he was standing in what looked like an office. He looked around to see a pale white deer with golden semicircles attached to its sides towering over him.

"Crane, you should not be here yet." The animal spoke in an authoritative voice.

Crane instantly shouldered his M1-Garand, pointing it at the creature and pulling the trigger. The bullet tore through the air and harmlessly turned to dust as it hit the creature.

"Excuse my manners. You humans call me Arceus," the creature answered. Arceus nodded towards Crane, and his gun turned to dust in his hands.

"W-what?"

The animal sighed.

"You should not have died yet. You should have landed safely, helped break through the beaches and went on to fight in-"

The creature stopped and looked at Crane who stood completely still, most likely from shock. Arceus paused as if thinking.

"I have an offer for you, human."

"And why would I take an offer from you?" Crane asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I will give you a second chance at life in a different world. In exchange, you will help me," Arceus answered.

"What you mean by a different world?" Crane asked, Confused about how another 'world' could exist.

"You would be put in a world where humans live alongside animals called Pokémon."

"Okay...and what are Pokémon?" Crane asked.

"Pokémon are creatures of all shapes and sizes that have extraordinary powers and abilities. You will soon learn firsthand."

"And what do you mean by that?"

"You will become a Pokémon."

"W-wait what?"

"You will become a Pokémon," Arceus stated again.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I will turn you into a Pokémon. I will not tell you this again. It's getting very annoying."

"Okay, a few questions. How will you turn me into a Pokémon?" Crane asked.

"I cannot tell you that."

"Why?"

Arceus just looked at Crane obviously becoming annoyed at his constant questioning.

"Okay, you said that there are a lot of them. Which one will I become?"

"I... didn't think of that," Arceus said as he turned away to think.

Crane sighed and put his head down for a few seconds, trying to come to terms with his supposed death. Crane looked back up after a few minutes only to see what looked like a ball hovering close to him.

"What is that?" Crane questioned.

"This is a die with all of the Pokémon that exist. Each Pokémon species has their own number."

"Do I roll it?"

"Do you accept my deal?"

"One more question," Crane announced.

"What will I be helping you with?" Crane asked Curious to what a god-like being could ever need help with.

"I don't know at this time, but if you accept I will call on you when necessary."

"Then why make the deal at all?"

"So you would rather not get a chance to live again?" Arceus inquired.

"I want to be able to live again, it's just a lot to take in. Though can I sweeten the deal for myself?" Crane asked.

"No. Do not get greedy, human," Arceus said, looking at Crane.

"Okay. So after I do the things I owe you, can I go back to my homeworld?"

"Yes. If you accept my offer." Crane said sighing, as it seemed he had no real choice.

"Good. Now roll the dice to find out which Pokémon you will become."

Crane rolled the die and looked at the number. "Okay, so I will be Pokémon number 493."

"No. No, you will not. Roll again," Arceus said.

"Why?"

"I am Pokémon number 493," Arceus sighed.

Crane shrugged and rolled again. "Okay. So Pokémon number is 58. What does that mean?"

"That means you will become a Growlithe," Arceus said.

Crane looked around awkwardly.

"Okay, so what do I do?"

Arceus nodded to a door behind him.

"That is the door that will lead you to a new life."

Crane walked slowly to the door. He placed his hand on the handle nervously, hesitant to turn it. Whatever was behind there was alien to them, and there was probably something that could kill him behind there. He didn't want to die a second time. Suddenly, he felt nausea smack into him like a hard ocean wave, making him dizzy and fall flat back on his back.

"Oh and Crane, this will hurt."

"You sneaky...little..." was all Crane was able to get out before his vision blurred and went black, and he slipped into unconsciousness.


	2. A Whole new world

 

I groaned and tried to sit up, only to find out that I had no idea how to move. Everything felt weird and different. The only thing I could really feel was that I was laying on what felt like grass.

After a few attempts at getting up, I was finally able to stand, though I couldn't stop wobbling as I tried to find out how to move my legs correctly. After I got used to standing on four legs I looked around at my body to find that I looked like an orange and black dog.

I shook my head and tried to move forward. It was already a challenge to keep my new body balanced as I stood on my paws because I was already using all my energy to keep myself from stumbling back onto the ground. It took a few hours, maybe three, for me to finally get used to standing on my paws. Then it was onto walking. Oh boy.

I swear I fell onto my tail about seven times before I finally got one foot... paw? paw forward, and with my bastardly luck I slipped on some mud and happened to roll down a hill. How the hell did that happen? How did I not see that hill? Oh, please direct all your questions to that office-llama-god-thing because I have no fucking idea.

As I was getting up I looked to my side to see a large drop-off, easily an eighty-foot drop straight into a lake. I tried to get up slowly, to get away from the cliff, but a severe pain pulsed inside my head. Most likely from the head-on collision with the tree. I tried to get a grip on a rock above me only to lose a foothold and slide down the rocky surface, sending me into a freefall off the cliff.

I felt the freezing cold water wrap around me. I quickly became unable to breathe. I tried to kick my legs and forelegs to stay afloat but my horrible coordination in this new body made my efforts fruitless. I grew dizzy from the lack of air, the process expedited by my wasted effort to swim until I lost consciousness, the world going cold and black.

* * *

"Do you think he is alive?" a female voice asked.

"You saw that fall he took. I doubt he survived that," another person said, this time male.

"Yea, but he hit the water. Wouldn't that cushion his fall?"

"No. That's not how water works. If anything, it only made the impact worse," the male voice answered.

"Hey. Are you dead?" Someone said as I felt them poke my face. "I think he's dead," the same person stated.

"Ok, just to be sure I'm going to shock him," the male voice said.

I felt someone place a paw on my shoulder and within a few seconds, I felt an electric shock. The shock wasn't much but it was enough to make me groan as I opened my eyes slowly. I shakily stood up and looked at the creatures in front of me.  
Wait... I think they are those 'Pokémon' that Arceus told me about.

There were three. One was yellow and looked like a fox with jagged fur. Another was snake-like but had legs and arms. The last looked like a blue lion cub with a yellow star-shaped tuft of fur on its tail.

"Welcome to the land of the living," the snake-like Pokémon said.

"H-hello?" I said shakily.

"Are you ok?" one of them asked. For a moment I sat in silence, staring at this Pokémon that I seemed to be able to communicate with.

"Yea, I'm good," I said looking around at my surroundings. We seemed to be at the edge of a thick forest, with the water that I fell into at my back.

"What's your name?" The Yellow fox asked

"My name's Crane," I answered.

"Weird name for a Growlithe. Though it's weird to see a Growlithe around here anyway." The yellow fox stated.

"Oh. Never really thought about it. What are your names?" I asked, Keeping an eye on the Snake-like Pokémon. I know they acted nice, but something about that Pokémon did not sit well with me. I don't know if it is my hatred for normal snakes or just the general aura he seemed to give off. Though it seemed like he did not like me as well because it seemed like he is keeping a very close eye on me.

"My name is Keil, the Shinx is Amber, and the Jolteon is Nicolai," the snakelike Pokémon known as 'Keil' answered.

"Ah... Um, what species of Pokémon are you?" I asked Keil.

"Not from around here huh? I am a Snivy," Keil replied proudly.

"And which one is Nicolai?" I said looking beside him to the two other Pokémon.

"The Jolteon."

"Umm... I don't know what a Jolteon looks like."

"You don't know what the Eevee evolution line looks like? have you been living under a rock?" Keil asked skeptically.

"No."

"Did you hit your head?"

"Yes, it's one of the reasons that I fell. Though I'll take a guess and say he is a Jolteon since he is the only other male Pokémon here." I answered nodding my head towards the spiky-haired Pokémon.

"You would be correct. Also, you can just call me Nick," Nicolai said, walking up to me.

"I would love to talk but we need to get out of the open. If humans find a Growlith and Shinx they will undoubtedly try to capture us," the other Pokémon I assumed was the Shinx announced.

"Capture? Why would someone want to capture us?" I asked.

"Damn, either you're stupidly lucky or you hit your head a little too hard," Nicolai laughed.

"Well... Okay, then what do I do if I come across one?" I asked.

"Alright then. So here's what you do when you find a human." Keil started gesturing around with his leaf hands. "You either run or sneak around them. They have these capturing things called Pokéballs. Once you get hit by one, you get shrunk into it, and it'll try to brainwash you into thinking it's a good thing to be captured. If you do happen to be captured, fight the feeling as much as you can! You do NOT want to be captured... do you?" He glared at me, making the fluffy fur on my neck stand on end.

"N-No, of course not!" I replied.

"Then they force you to train for fights you don't want to participate in. Then pretend that they are your 'friends,' but literally throw you away whenever you aren't strong enough for their sadistic battles," Keil answered getting frustrated the more he spoke.

"Calm down man, ya don't want to scare the guy," Nicolai told Keil. Keil rolled his eyes and walked away from the group a bit grumbling to himself.

"Don't worry about him. As long as you don't talk about humans he is usually nice," Amber said.

"Why does he hate humans so much?"

"He never really talks about it, but I'm assuming that he just told you, Nicolai replied.

"Ok. Let's get moving. I'm getting thirsty." Amber smiled and nudged us towards the forest.

I looked behind us at the lake I fell into. "Is that water not drinkable?"

"Yes, but don't blame me if your head gets munched on by a Ferligator."

"What's a Ferligator?" I asked.

"You really hit your head hard, didn't you?"

"I thought we already established that."

"I'll tell you when we get to the pond," Amber laughed. They walked into the forest with me walking behind them as they talked to each other. I didn't really listen in for I was thinking about what I was going to do with my new life.

Would I just relax? Go on adventures? Did it even matter?

I shook my head to get rid of my annoying thoughts as I looked up.

"Something on your mind?" Nicolai asked suddenly appearing right in front of me.

I instinctively launched my paw forward, effectively punching him in the face as I then jumped back, startled at his sudden appearance.

"Damn...that hurt," the Jolteon groaned, holding his paw to his nose.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" I said, walking up to him.

"I hear ya.."

I looked over to see that Amber was rolling on the ground laughing and Keil giving me a thumbs up with his weird hand-like appendage. I smiled and laughed nervously before we started back on our route.

"Crane?" I heard a distant voice call.

"What?" I asked the group in front of me.

"Hmm? We didn't say anything," Keil answered questioningly.

"Crane!" This time the voice was a tiny bit clearer as I started backing up defensively.

"Who's there?!" I yelled.

"Are you ok?" Amber asked.

"Crane! Get up!" This time the voice was completely clear as my legs and arms failed underneath me and I fell to the ground unconscious.

* * *

"Crane! Get up, man!" The voice called out one more.

I opened my eyes slightly to see someone standing over me.

"Crane! Thank God. I thought you were dead," the person said. They sounded familiar. It almost sounded like Mike, wait... It sounded EXACTLY like Mike! My eyes shot open to see Mike dragging me. He dragged me into a small opening and sat me down on the grass, I groaned as I sat up. I looked down to see that, other than the searing pain and weakness I felt in my legs, I was almost completely unscathed.

"Mike... W-What... Happened?" I asked weakly. I opened and closed my hands as I tried to get used to the feeling of having opposable thumbs again.

"Our plane crashed we landed a bit off course. You landed and were knocked out. I dragged your sorry ass here."

"Where are we?" I asked weakly as I tried to stand up, which was a bad idea. I howled in pain as my legs gave out halfway. Thankfully, Mike was there to catch me and stop me from falling face first onto the ground.

"We are about three kilometers away from the target," Mike said hoisting up onto my feet. Thankfully this time the pain was somewhat bearable.

Mike grabbed a rifle and loaded a clip, then picked another one up and held it towards me. "Can you fight?"

I stretched and grabbed the rifle. "Hope so," I said grabbing a clip from my bandoleer and loading it into my rifle. Mike and I got moving towards our target.

"There are so-" Mike was saying before a hailstorm of bullets started tearing up grass and land near us. "Shit!" Mike screamed as we ducked down in a small ditch, bullets whizzing past our heads. The ditch only slightly covered us. I popped my head up and looked at our enemies to see that there were about ten of them all laying suppressive fire. As they stopped to reload I took action and tried to fire some rounds at the Nazis, taking one down before they fired another volley at us. They continued firing consistently as they inched closer and closer.

I looked over to Mike, who was calling over to me desperately as the deafening hail of gunfire tore apart the cover he was in. Then he looked over at me. He started calling to me...

"Mike... Mike... No, " I yelled as he got out of his cover and tried to run to me. Time seemed to freeze as I saw a bullet tear across his chest. He fell right next to me, coughing up blood as he covered his chest.

"S-... Shit..." He looked over to me. That bastard... he still had the strength to make that cheeky smile at me. "Looks like... I fucked up this time, huh?"

My eyes clouded as I looked back at him, "N-No... Mike.." I held his hand. "W-We can't die... what about that r-restaurant we talked about? We'd make lots of money... g-.. get all the hotties.. we still... have to..."

He placed a hand over my mouth, tears running freely from his eyelids and dripping down to the ground below. It was our final moments, and he knew it just as well as I did. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry we... can't do that anymore..." he fell right there, sobbing into my chest as I panted heavily, trying to keep awake. I peeked over our covers, to see Nazis Charging at us.

"What w-will w-we..." I choked on my own tears, holding tightly onto Mike. I could hear the Germans getting closer and closer, their numerous footsteps stampeding through the grass. It was over for us.

"C-Crane... Let's g-give a last message for the f-fucking Nazis..." He muttered into my ear, pulling out a grenade from his shirt pocket. He held it shakily in the air, as the grey-uniformed men ran in.

"Do it," I whispered, closing my eyes and slowing my breathing. The tinging sound of a pin being pulled and the handle colliding against the concrete floor echoed into my ears, as I slowly counted the fuse by seconds...

Five... Four... Three... Two... One.

The Germans stormed in at the perfect moment, as the fuse hit zero. I let out a yell as the grenade went off, engulfing us all in an explosion. With an ear-shattering boom, the world faded away in one instant.

* * *

For what felt like an hour I laid down in silence until I had even the semblance of strength to open my eyes. I let out a groan as I carefully opened my eyes, fearing what I would see beyond the veil of my eyelids. As my eyes began adjusting to the light I could make out that I was back in the same forest I was in before I blacked out.

"Hey Fluff, you good?" I heard someone ask next to me. I looked over to see Amber looking at me with a worried look on her face.

"Yea... I'm..."

"You're not good," Amber said laying down in front of me.

"Amber, I'm fine," I replied, annoyed.

"You're crying."

I raised my paw and wiped away my tears.

"Crane, if there is anything you need to tell me, I'm here for you."

"Where are the others?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"I think they went on the trail to go scavenge for some berries...? I'm not sure." She sighed.

"Mike?" she suddenly said, startling me a tiny bit. "Sounds like an old friend."

"How do you know his name?" I asked.

"You were speaking while you were unconscious. I'm guessing you two were close?"

"I-I don't want to talk about it right now," I answered getting up.

"Where are you going?" she asked calmly.

"F-for a walk," I said, before walking in a random direction. I looked back at Amber only to see her staring at me with a worried expression.

I walked in a straight line for about two minutes before coming up on a cliff overlooking a forest below it.

I sat near the edge for a minute or two before trying to control my breathing as the images of Mike's last moments started forcing their way into my mind.

My breathing quickly started to become more desperate as my vision started to fade and the visions of Mike's blood-soaked face became more vivid.

I clumsily stood up and shook my head, desperately trying to get the images to leave my mind, but my efforts were in vain as the images continued barraging my mind. My mind clouded as I screamed with every fiber of my being and sprinted forward. The ground quickly ran out as I was sent careening off of the cliff.


	3. Delivery boy

 

**P.O.V: Crane (1st)**

* * *

As feeling came back to my body the first thing I noticed was that I was facedown on what felt like carpet. I groaned and shifted my body to where I was laying on my side.

I already knew where I was. I laid on the ground for about two minutes before I slowly opened my eyes to see exactly what I expected: a clean, organized office with Arceus sitting on the other side of a table just looking at me.

"What?" I asked, finally getting up.

"Crane, today is not the day you die. You are needed in the future," Arceus said, looking down at me.

"Wait just one fucking second-" I said, pointing at him before I was cut off.

"No, Crane. You already made the deal. There is no going back." Arceus said, pointing back at me with one of his front feet.

"WHY?! Why would you choose me of all people? You're a god, you know the things I've been through! You know what I've done! So. why. Me?!" I screamed.

"Crane what you've done in the past is of no relevance to me. This is a chance for you to begin anew, to change who you are."

"Why... Why do you give me this chance? Why am I so special?" I said starting to break down in tears.

"Crane, humans are strongest when they are faced with impossible tasks, and at their weakest when they are faced with none.

"I am not strong, I've faced impossible tasks! You know what I did!? Fucking. nothing!"

"Crane, You never know how strong you truly are… until being strong is the only choice you have."

"Why? Why do I have to be strong? Why can't I just hide away in a hole somewhere and live out my life?"

"Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that's what makes you strong. You can't stand watching innocent people hurt, and you are willing to put your neck on the line for the weak. You ARE strong, you just don't know it yet."

"Yet?" I said.

Arceus smiled and ignored my question.

"Crane, there are people that care about you, never forget that."

"Okay," I said.

"You are ready to return?" Arceus said.

"First, want answers about what I saw." I started back walking up to him.

"You were human, but not anymore. Because of that, you can be transported into different worlds. I pulled you out at the last moment."

"So what I saw me, but not me?" I asked.

"Exactly."

"That makes no sense," I said shaking my head.

"You won't understand it for a while. The entire concept of multiple worlds is not known to your people at this time."

"What do you mean by that?"

"What you humans call the 'Multiverse theory' was not theorized until 1957 in your world."

"What?" I said completely confused. Arceus thought for a few minutes before answering.

"Think of your world as a branch on a tree, every decision you make splits the branch in two. Every decision you make and decisions others make continues splitting the branches creating more and more universes with slight differences until it is indistinguishable from the starting branch." Arceus answered.

"Ok... I think I get it. Kind of."

"Good. So enough talking about that. I have an assignment for you," Arceus said changing the subject.

"Why do you change the subject so much?" I groaned.

"Because it pisses you off. I want you to go to Ilex forest and give this to a Pokémon named Celebi and she will tell you what to do next," Arceus replied, telepathically placing an envelope in front of me.

"And how will I hold this envelope? I don't have hands anymore." I said holding my little paws up.

"You can place it in your tail."

"And why would I put it in my tail?"

Arceus chuckled. "I gave you your very own pocket universe inside of your tail. It's much more convenient than having to hold things that I need to be delivered in your mouth."

"What is a 'pocket universe' and how did you put one in my tail?" I asked.

"A pocket universe is like a tiny world."

"Do I want to know how it works?"

"It will take a few hours, but I think I can wrap your mind around it. So to start talking pocket universes you first must understand what an inflationary zone is. An infatio-"

"You know what? Skip that," I interrupted, "I don't want to sit through a mind-numbing lecture."

Arceus nodded.

"And how do I use this 'pocket universe' that I somehow have in my tail?"

"You can just place things into your tail and whenever you want. To take something out you think about what you want, then reach into your tail. The item will be there waiting."

"How does that work?"

"Magic," Arceus stated flatly.

"Bullshit."

"Would you rather me take a few days off to explain it to you?"

"No," I groaned.

"Good."

"Why do I have to do this for you? Aren't you some kind of god?" I asked.

"I cannot leave this room."

"Why?"

"I judge people and Pokémon alike, Crane. I might be a god, but I have responsibilities like any other Mon."

"Why can't you tell or create someone to do this for you?"

"That's not how it works" Arceus sighed

"Then how does it work?" I asked.

"In a way that your feeble mind can't fully understand," Arceus said.

"Well, if you're going to insult me than I should leave."

"Yes, you should. Goodbye, Crane," Arceus said.

"Oh! And one last thing: Can you make sure I don't see any more weird visions?" I asked.

"I almost forgot about that," Arceus said, opening a filing cabinet and lifting a necklace with his mind and putting it on the table.

"This will stabilize you into this world. It will mostly be hidden by your neck fluff, but let no one take it off of you. If it is removed for an extended period you will become unstable and could cause a rupture in the Spacetime continuum," Arceus explained.

"Rupture the spacetime continuum?"

"Yep."

"Is that important?" I asked

"Extremely," Arceus stated.

"Then why give it to me now and not when you sent me here?"

"Because this was the first time I have resurrected someone from another world into this world and I needed a small bit of time to create it."

"Oh... Wait if this is the first time you brought someone to the Pokémon world how do you know the effect it will have on me if it is taken off?"

"The effects that I stated is merely a hypothesis, but I am rarely wrong."

I nodded and tried to put on the necklace, though my lack of thumbs made it a fruitless effort.

"A little help putting this necklace on?" I asked Arceus.

"Technically that is called a talisman," Arceus said, telekinetically placing the talisman around my neck.

"Okay, thank you."

"Oh, and Crane. Watch your back out there. The Pokémon out there will try to kill you. You also have great power in this world, A power that should be used for the greater good. You will soon see for yourself what that means and the responsibilities that come with it. Now, Crane, you have a message to deliver."

"Wow, I'm a delivery boy. And here I thought I would be doing more interesting things." I said sarcastically

"Good travels, Crane," Arceus said before a blinding light filled the room.

* * *

The sound of birds and wind filled my ears as I opened my eyes. I found myself still sitting near the edge of the cliff. I looked into the sky to see that it was about midday. I looked back down at the edge and sighed.

Might as well head back, I thought to myself, standing up. Instead, I was met with someone slamming into my side, throwing me away from the cliff. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Amber.

"Crane."

I sighed and answered. "What?"

"Why?" She asked.

"Why what?"

"I just watched you sit on the edge of a cliff for five hours straight."

"You watched me for five hours?"

"Crane. I saw that look you had on your face when you left. And like I said, I'm here if you need someone to talk to," she said, smiling

After a few moments, she stopped smiling and looked at my neck,

"Crane... When did you get that scar?" she said, pointing to the thin scar around my neck.

I sighed and stood up. "I don't want to talk about them right now."

Amber tripped me and slammed me onto my back. "Crane. Tell me where you got it. Now."

"Amber... I... just... please. Ignore it for now. I will tell you everything later, Okay?"

Amber nodded and loosened her hold on me, but still keeping me on my back.

"I will hold you to that." She said, her smile beginning to return.

"Why are you so inclined to help me?" I sighed.

"Because we're friends. Friends help friends." She said, beginning to smile brightly.

"Who said we are friends?" I said puffing up my cheeks in a childish pout.

"Me," she giggled.

"Well, I can see you two are getting along well," someone said behind us.

"Oh, hey Nick," Amber said smiling.

"Sooo... Do I have to worry about little Growlith and Shinx kits running around?" Nicolai said nudging Amber.

Both Amber blushed as she jumped up and turned to have her back facing us, allowing me to back sit up.

"Okay, let's head back. I'm getting hungry," she stated, quickly walking towards the forest.

We followed behind her at a normal pace, with Nicolai and me at the back and Amber leading.

"So, what do you think of her?" Nicolai asked, turning to me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You know what I mean," Nicolai said, nudging me.

"Why do you ask?" I asked sheepishly as my cheeks started to heat up.

"My Amber likes you, I can tell that much. And from your reaction, you do too."

"Well... I-" I was cut off by Nicolai.

"But Crane, I am going to warn you." Nicolai's face suddenly changed from happy to cold and serious.

"Umm... Okay." I said as a chill ran down my spine.

"If you touch my little sister, I will snap your neck. Ya' get me?" He said leaning closer to my face as bolts of electricity began zipping across his body.

"Y-Yea I get you," I said nervously.

"Good, now I'm gonna run ahead and tell Keil Y'all are coming," he said, his smile returning.

Nicolai sped off into the forest quickly, leaving Amber and me behind.

I quickened my pace to match Amber's.

"So, Nicolai is your brother?" I asked, confused at how two different species could be related.

"Yep," she said, smiling.

"How are you related?" I asked.

"Our mother is a Luxray and our father is a Flareon."

"Oh... Okay." I said, not knowing what either of the two Pokémon she just stated was.

"We really should hurry," I said, looking into the sky watching the large clouds brewing, "It's going to rain soon and by the look of it, it's going to hit us hard."

"Yeah, we probably are going to be hit by a pretty bad thunderstorm," Amber said, looking at the sky.

"That's what I said you know."

"We were going to head to the pond, but we are going to have to just head to our cave. Because you decided to sit on a cliff for five hours."

"You own a cave?" I asked, surprised.

"Yep, we made it ourselves," she replied proudly.

"Huh... how did you make it?"

"It's a secret," she returned, giggling.

After a few minutes, we approached a small opening in the trees where Keil and Nicolai sat eating some berries.

"Where have Y'all been?" Keil asked.

I smiled. "Thinking."

"So you two have been thinking for five hours straight?" Nicolai asked raising an eyebrow.

"No, I've been thinking for five hours. She just watched me from a bush." I said, walking up to them.

"Damn, you just met today and she's already stalking you. And when I went looking for Y'all I found you her on top of you. Moving pretty fast aren't ya sis?" Nicolai laughed.

"Shut up, Nick," Amber said, a blush forming on her face.

"Eat quickly. We need to get moving," Keil said, completely ignoring Nicolai and tossing some berries my way.

"Amber said you guys have a cave. We could go before it starts raining?"

"Yep, it's just actually just south of here."

I consumed the last of the berries and we started traveling towards their cave. I noticed that Amber kept staring at me from time to time and it was starting to get on my nerves. As we neared the cave I glanced over at Amber only to see her quickly look away.

"Okay. Why do you keep staring at me?" I asked, starting to get angry. I heard Nicolai whisper something to Keil but paid no attention.

"I was just wondering where you got that necklace," Amber admitted stepping closer to me.

"I've always had it," I lied, and she seemed to believe it.

I followed the group into the cave and was amazed at what I was looking at. The room was circular and had a dome-like roof. The entire thing was illuminated by a crystalline glowing pillar. Next, to the pillar, there was a large flat slab of rock with smaller flat stones sitting around it. At the back of the room, there was what looked like a hallway with about five openings in the wall, which I assumed were bedrooms.

A purple cat with a yellow underbelly and pink fur surrounding its eyes walked out of one of the openings in the wall and approached the group.

"Welcome to back Keil, Amber, Nicolai, and who is this? A new clan member perhaps?"

"Madam Crystal, this is Crane. We also have not asked him yet," Amber answered.

"Wait, I didn't know you were in a clan," I said, confused.

"Yeah, we didn't know if you would want to join. So we decided to wait till we got back here to ask you."

"How many others are there?"

"Only Keil, Amber, Nicolai and me at this point. However, we only became a clan a month ago," The purple feline said.

"What's your name and what Pokémon are you?" I asked.

"My name is Crystal, and I am a Liepard," she answered.

"Crane, I know it's a little late to ask, but would you please consider joining our clan?" Amber urged.

"I-I don't know. I'm probably going to be moving around a lot and I don't think I will be able to settle down anywhere for long."

"That's perfectly fine. Though you should think about coming back to join our clan sometime," Crystal stated.

"If I get a chance to settle down I will come back and join you," I smiled.

"It is getting late. You should all go to sleep for tomorrow's trip."

"Where are they going?" I asked.

"They are going to gather some water at Ilex Lake."

"Can I come and help?" I asked.

"If you want... Though there isn't much to do there."

"Crane, you can stay in the guest den. It is the last one on the left," Keil said, walking into one of the dens. I sighed and headed to the den he told me I could use. It had a simple grass bed, drawer, and a chunk of the same crystal that was in the main room. I opened the drawer and found another chink of the weird glowing crystal, I decided to take it and put it into my tail, hoping that they wouldn't need it at any point. I sighed and curled up onto the bed slipping into unconsciousness.

I felt someone poking at my arm waking me from my slumber.

"Crane, get up."

I instantly froze up and squeezed my eyes shut as flickers of Mike forced their way into my mind.

"Crane, I know you're awake. Get up before I shock you."

I opened my eye to see Nicolai sitting next to the bed and relaxed.

"Whatcha need?" I asked stretching.

"We are leaving now if you want to go." I nodded and followed Nicolai out of the cave to see the rest of the group waiting for us.

"Ok. Let's head out," Amber said, standing up. As we walked, we weaved between the dense foliage. The uneven terrain and many trees caused me to fall at least three times before we reached the pond and each time was increasingly more embarrassing because it was always the smallest of pebbles that tripped me up.

The pond was absolutely gorgeous. It had crystal clear water and beautiful flowers and trees all around it. While it also had some Pokémon either drinking resting near it none of them seemed hostile in the slightest, which was a relief for me.

"You guys fill up the water. I'm going to look around," I said, separating from their group. It took a few minutes, but I came along a few purple rats that pointed me towards where they thought Celebi was.

"Hello? Are you Celebi?" I asked a fairy-like Pokémon.

"Yes, I am, little Growlith. Why do you ask?" Celebi asked, smiling.

"Someone told me to give this to you," I said grabbing the note from my tail and holding it up to her.

"Oh! You're Crane, right?" She asked grabbing the note.

"Yep."

"Thank you! Now I need you to bring this orb to the Ruins of Alph and place it in the center of the pedestal of Omanyte," Celebi said, giving me a blue orb.

"Ok, where is-" I said before being cut off by a scream. I ran to over to see that a small shrew with a weak flame flowing from its back. There was also a Pokémon that looked like a massive alligator that Keil told me was a 'Feraligatr'.

"Ha! The puny thing can't even fight back!" The Feraligatr said, slamming the tiny shrew-like Pokémon into the ground with its tail. I didn't want to get into a fight with the oversized alligator, but I couldn't let it abuse another Pokémon. I started walking towards them and noticed Keil and the rest of the group across the pond were all waving at me. Most likely trying to get me to back down before it was too late.

"Oh, look! Another runt is coming to try to save your puny ass again," the Feraligatr laughed. The shrew-like Pokémon looked at me sadly and laid its head down.

"Look. I don't know what's going on here, but I think this needs to stop," I announced. The Feraligatr just laughed and walked towards me. With one swift move, it grabbed my tail and hurled me over its head, sending me flying into a tree nearby. I groaned as I stood back on my feet before picking a splinter out of my side with my mouth and spitting it out.

"So, you can take more punishment than the other fire runt, not as it matters much." The Feraligatr walked up to me and quickly spun around slamming its tail into my side and knocking me into the tree again. It laughed as I tried to stand back up, only to fall on my face once more. The searing pain Tearing away at my brain.

"Now time to finish what I started. Then I'm coming back for you," the Feraligatr said, turning around and walking towards the small shrew-like Pokémon. The small thing couldn't do anything to protect itself from the massive beast as it picked it up and threw it into the ground. The small Pokémon let out a small squeak of pain.

I couldn't let the small, basically defenseless Pokémon die. As the large Pokémon slammed his fist down onto the Pokémon something inside of me snapped, All the pain that I felt earlier seemed to vanish as I started to rise to my feet.

The Feraligatr looked back at me and smiled. "Oh, look who decided to get up. Let me-"

**"Silence."**  I interrupted him, or at least I think I did. It sounded nothing like me, It sounded distorted and demonic, but I don't really care. Not like it matters. Nothing really matters when you get down to it. A smile slowly inched its way across my face, Growing more twisted and wider than should be biologically possible.

The Feraligatr stepped back as his eyes widened "What... The hell are you?"

I could smell the fear radiating off of him. No, it wasn't just him, It was from almost all of the Pokémon in the surrounding area. It was so potent, I could almost taste it, It was intoxicating. And I... **want.**.. **MORE.**


	4. Road to the world

 

**P** **lease excuse any historical inaccuracies.**

**I do not own Pokemon. That belongs to its respective owner.**

* * *

Amber was about to run in and help Crane when she was suddenly stopped by a leafy appendage.

"Keil. Out of the way I'm going to help Crane," she said sharply.

"No, Something is...Off. I can feel it." He said narrowing his eyes at Crane who seemed to be standing up.

The Feraligatr looked back at Crane and smiled. "Oh, look who decided to get up. Let me-"

**"Silence."**

The voice coming out of Cranes mouth was absolutely terrifying, It sounded like a demon from the deepest depths of the distortion world.  
After a few moments, Crane slowly raised his head. A chill ran down Ambers' spine at what she saw.. His eyes were pitch black orbs, and he was grinning from ear to ear, almost literally. He drooled a pitch black ooze that dripped onto the ground, making the grass that it landed on shrivel and turn black.

"What... The hell are you?" The Feraligatr said backing up.

Crane started maniacally laughing and started slowly stepping closer to the Feraligatr.

**"Me? I am many things; Hate, rage, depression, all of the emotions you bottle up and keep out of sight to others, but you... you may call me Azazel."**

"Ha- Y-you think you scare me?" The Feraligatr said shakily

Crane ... or... 'Azazel' laughed  **"Do you think I care?** **We are a being from another world! You have no idea what you're dealing with here Boy-o!** **"**

"S-shut the hell up!" The Pokémon said as he started to tremble.

**"Oh, Little Feraligatr you act so tough, yet you are so fragile ... I can see into your mind, I can feel your fear."**  Azazel stopped and licked his lips.

**"And feels Marvelous, For someone to fear you! You know what? I'm going to give you the first move, so go on. HIT ME."**

The Feraligatr stood still for a few moments before turning around and sprinting toward the water.

**"Oh, I so do love it when they run."**  Azazel laughed.

The Feraligatr got about halfway to the water's edge before he was slammed face-first into the ground by a shadow ball.a  
Azazel sprinted towards the water type Pokémon and quickly launched a flurry of Night Slashes.  
The attacks tore through the large Pokémon, ripping into its flesh as it ceased almost all movement.  
Azazel sat near the wounded Feraligatr for a few seconds before collapsing onto the ground.

* * *

**P.** **O.V: Crane (1st)**

* * *

I opened my eyes to see that I was lying a few feet away from a Feraligatr that was bloody and unconscious.

"C-Crane?" I looked over to see Amber cautiously walking up to me. I stretched and stood up, causing Amber to flinch and back up.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked.

"We could say the same thing to you," Nicolai said walking up to me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well... You know what? Nothing. Nothing at all happened." Keil spat angrily as he walked up to me.

"Woah, Buddy what's with the hostility?" I asked.

Keil was about to say something, before being cut off by someone behind us.

"Umm...Y-your name is Azazel, right?"

"No. My name is Crane" I said turning around to see the shrew-like fire Pokémon.

"Oh... But you said... W-well I-I want to thank you for helping me."

"No problem, Though I don't remember what I helped with," I said smiling.

"We should go back to the cave before one of that Ferligatr's friends finds out what happened and comes running," Amber said backing up to leave.

We all agreed and started making our way back to the cave. About two minutes into our walk back a Feraligatr jumped out of the bushes behind us and started sprinting towards us. Flashes of the Nazis charging at me and Mike began surging through my mind as adrenalin coursed through my veins.

"Nazis! Move!" I yelled without thinking. We all started sprinting as Nicolai looked at me with a confused expression.

"What is a Nazi?" Nicolai asked.

"Ummm... I didn't mean to say Nazi." I said trying to quickly come up with an excuse.

Nicolai was about to say something but was interrupted by Keil yelling something and pointing ahead to a cave entrance.

As soon as we all got inside of the cave Keil and Nicolai pushed a large boulder into the entrance sealing the cave.

"Why does this always have to happen to me?" I groaned.

"Always? This has happened before?" Keil said angrily.

"No, just the whole fighting and running away. I've always hated it."

"Why would you be fighting and running? Is it the reason you fell into the lake?" Nicolai questioned.

"Enough with the questions, it doesn't matter anymore. This is an emergency we all have to deal with." Amber said panting.

"Emergency? What happened?" Crystal said running up to the group.

"Turns out he is some sort of demon," Keil said nodding to me.

"I knew something was off about you" Crystal stated stepping towards me.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter. You are leaving." Keil said stepping in front of me.

"Woah man, you need to stop with the hostility. He hasn't hurt any of us." Amber said trying to push him away from me.

"The problem is that he is a Threat to us all, just because he hasn't doesn't mean he won't, you saw the way he acted," Keil said easily pushing Amber out of that way and walked up to me to where we were face-to-face.

"Keil! You have no right to talk to him like that." Crystal yelled.

"Yes I fucking do," Keil yelled back.

Crystal was about to say something back, but I decided to interrupt and defuse the situation.

"No... He is right, I should go." I said backing down.

"What?" Amber looked at me suprised.

"Me staying here will only endanger all of you," I said tuning for the exit.

"Damn right," Keil muttered turning away from me.

"I'm going with him," Amber said walking up next to me.

"What?" Me, Keil and Crystal both asked at the same time.

"I don't fit in with you guys anyway, so I'm going to go with Crane. Nick, are you going with me?" Amber said looking at Nicolai who just shrugged.

"Amber you can't go with Crane, he would probably get you killed," Keil stated.

"Keil I will do whatever I damn please, you have no control over me," Amber replied as sparks started emerging out of her tail fluff.

"Oh really? Let me show you how much control I have!." Keil's leaf-like arm sharpened itself as he jumped forward going in for an attack.

My perception of time slowed as a Keil started to advance upon her.

At that point, I lost control of my body. My body lunged forward at an extraordinary speed and stood in between Keil and Amber. Keil's eyes widened in shock as my tail hardened and I spun around, The attack hitting his arm causing him to stagger back. My body then burst into flames as I slammed into him, Causing him to be knocked a couple feet away. I walked up to him and placed a paw on his chest, holding him down.

I looked into Keils eyes only to see pure fear. I commanded my body to obey me, to no avail as 'I' raised my paw and black blade-like claws extended from them. I screamed internally to myself until my vision went black.

* * *

I opened my eyes to see that I was in a room, The walls, Ceiling, and even floors were pitch black.  
I looked up to see a humanoid figure with large feathery wings looking directly at me.

"W-where am I?" I asked staring at the thing.

**"You're in our mind."**  It said the voice was extremely familiar and when I recognized it as Azazel, I immediately groaned in irritation.

"I thought we made a deal Azazel," I said pointing at him.

**"Yes... But I would rather keep our body alive than keep our contract."**  It said calmly Its eyes boring into me.

"Fair point, but don't do it again. I don't need to raise any more suspicion."

**"Meh. Just don't resist my control, I'm sure we can make a different contract"**

"Of course I'm resisting your control! You're a damn demon!" I yelled

**"No no no. I'm not a demon and you know that. I was born the moment you made your first kill. We killed so many people that day... Just like how I'm going to kill that Snivy"** Azazel explained.

"Wait are you going to kill him?" I asked hurriedly.

**"I see no reason not to,"**  He replied blankly.

"Don't kill him, you demon." I almost yelled.

He just looked at me **"Why? You want to protect the shinx. The easiest and quickest way to eliminate the threat is to terminate the attacker, And once again... I'm not a demon."**

"I don't care what is the easiest way to eliminate the threat, I don't want to start killing people again," I said growling.

He sighed  **"You were so much more fun when you were younger ya know? But whatever, You have full control of your body."**

* * *

I opened my eyes to see that not even a second passed. I was still standing over Keil with my claw raised high, ready to swipe down.  
I sighed heavily and lowered my paw, Stepping off of Keil who laid on the floor still frozen in fear.

"Sorry about that, I lost control for a moment." I smiled walking to the exit.

Amber hesitated before turning around and following me.

"Amber that is the exact reason you can't go with him. You-" Keil said starting to get up.

"Keil if anything this show that she is better off going with him. Crane even felt it necessary to protect her from you." Nicolai said coldly.

Keil opened his mouth to say something but was quickly silenced when I looked back at him.

I walked out of the doorway and began walking in a random direction. I looked back to see that Amber and Nicolai was following me.

"Nicolai... I expected Amber to follow me, But why did you?"

"I can't just let my little sister run off with some random guy she met. Plus, while you might know how to fight, you have no self-control. And by the looks of it, you aren't the most... stable person." Nicolai said

"Y'all should really stay with them, I promise you that I will come back," I spoke to Amber.

"No, I want to stay with you." Amber smiled

"I'm just warning you that I will be traveling alot," I warned

"I've always wanted to be an explorer." She said happily.

"It will most likely be dangerous," I said urging her to go with the others.

"You can protect me." She replied obliviously.

"Why do you want to stay with me?" I sighed

"Because I like you." She replied stepping closer to me.

I just stared at her "What?"

"Ooookay, how bout' I walk right here. " Nicolai said pushing between me and Amber, who gave him a pouty face.

"We got a path," I said as we entered a clearing with a sandy trail running through the middle.

"Ok, We can't really just walk the path. The humans will try and capture us." Amber said.

"Oh! I know what we can do!" Amber said walking up to me.

"You know that talisman you have? Can you give it to me?" She asked

"No, I can't," I said.

"Too bad." She said tackling me and trying to grab the talisman.

**_'She is endangering our lives, I will Handle this.'_**  A voice said as I felt the control of my body loosen.

_'No! you will not fight her!'_ I screamed into my mind, fighting to keep control.

_**'She is endangering our lives and needs to be handled before something happens!'**  _Azazel yelled back.

_'Arceus said we can survive with it off for a few minutes, so we can deal with it.'_  I said to myself.

_**'You better not get us killed.'**_ Azazel said, stopping his fight for control

I relaxed and let Amber take the talisman off my neck, A wave of nausea hit me for a moment before Amber put the talisman back on me and fluffed up my neck fur.

"There, Perfect," Amber said stepping back.

I stood up to see that she had just moved the talisman from under my neck fluff to where it was showing prominently.

"Now I'm going to need you to growl at anybody that gets close to us," Amber said.

"Why?"

"Because it makes you look like you are already owned by a human. Remember to growl, From what I've heard Growliths are very loyal and protective when owned by a human."

I sighed and nodded

"What will Nick and you do?" I asked

"We don't need to do anything different than when we normally act. You just act weird for Growlith." Nicolai chuckled

"Perfect. Now let's go" She giggled.

We walked out on the path slightly leaning to one side in case something attacks us. The path was made of sand and there were grassy bits to the sides and Trees surrounding the entire opening. I tensed slightly as a human and a large houndlike Pokémon walked past us. They stared at us as we walked by.

"We are probably going up a path to a city, there will be alot more human activity there, We also need to find out where we are going... Should we ask one of the Pokémon owned by the humans for directions?" Amber whispered.

"It'll be risky but we have no choice," Nicolai said.

I stopped and looked around for a friendly looking Pokémon only to see an eight-year-old girl running towards us.

"Daddy! Daddy! Look, a Growlith and Jolteon!" She squealed reaching out to pick me up.

I tried to back up, but she grabbed me anyway and picked me up. I tried to squirm my way out as she held up to her face. I looked back at Amber to see that she was rolling on the ground laughing. I looked back at the girl and growled, trying to get her to drop me.

"It's soooo cute!" She shouted squeezing me in a hug.

"Mary, let the poor Growlith go before it bites you, they don't like to be picked up like that." A man that looked around his forties which I assumed was her dad.

"Sorry, little Growlith." She said sadly, slowly putting me back on the ground.

I looked around to see that they actually had a large werewolf-like Pokémon at his side.

I leaned towards Nicolai and asked, "What is that Pokémon?"

"Uhh...I think it's a Zoroark" He answered.

I smiled and looked over to the Guy. "Umm. do you know where we are? We are a little lost."

The Zoroark stepped up instead and answered "Why do you not know where you are? A Growlith always keeps its owner insight."

"This Shinx decided to run off and our trainer told us to retrieve her.," Nicolai said walking up.

"Oh... Then we are a little away from Goldenrod city, It is just back the way we came."

"Daddy, can we keep them? It looks like they get along with Raven." The girl pleaded.

"No, See that collar around that Growliths neck? He already has a trainer." The man said.

The girl pouted and stomped off with her father just behind her.

"Farewell little ones." The Zoroark said turning to follow her group.

"Told you it would work," Amber said.

I nodded and started walking towards the city that the Zoroark pointed us towards.

"Are we really going to a city?" Amber asked cautiously.

"Yup, It's the best chance we got to finding the Runes of Alph," I said.

"Why are we going to the Runes of Alph?" Nicolai asked

"Reasons," I said

"What reasons?" Amber asked.

"Reasons that I can't explain at this moment," I answered.

"There are alot of things you can't seem to explain. We will find out what you are hiding from us, One way... Or another." Nicolai said as sparks pulsed across his fur.


	5. Interrogation

**P** **lease excuse any historical inaccuracies.**

**I do not own Pokemon. That belongs to its respective owner.**

* * *

**P.O.V: Crane (1st)**

* * *

"There is a sign up there. It can probably tell us where we are going, But I don't know how to read human." Amber said sighing.

"I actually know how to read human, and its called English by the way."

"How do you know how to read English?" Amber asked

"I grew up where reading English was necessary for my survival," I said shrugging.

I looked around, But nothing was different than the last twenty times I did. It was a sandy path, Grassy sidelines, and trees surrounding everything the only thing different was that a small sign was up ahead. I growled softly as another human walked past, though I didn't see as many as I thought I would, Being close to a big city and all. I sighed after they were out of earshot wondering how long I have to keep this up.

"Don't worry Fluff, You're doing just fine. We should almost be to the City." Amber said joyfully

* * *

**Goldenrod city- 5 Kilometers ^**

**Ilex forest center- 2 Kilometers v**

* * *

"Ok, so Goldenrod city is... five Kilometers Away" I sighed.

"Ok, that doesn't sound like much. Let's get going," Amber said walking ahead of me.

"Nope, I'm not walking another step, Not today at least," I said flopping onto the ground.

"Hey my feet hurt, but you don't see me groaning about it."She said nudging me.

"You don't know how much five kilometers is do you?" I said

"No, But it can't be that far."

"Wrong. Five kilometers is about three miles, which is more than double what we have walked today. And to make it worse we have stubby little legs so it takes even longer. So We should find some food and shelter before we head out again tomorrow," I said getting up and walking to the edge of the forest.

"Or... We could walk the rest of the way and get it over with now." Amber sighed following me.

"Na, I think we should get some rest before we get to Goldenrod city anyway, we have no Idea what will happen when we get there," Nicolai said following us to the forest edge.

"Finally someone agrees with me for once!" I said.

"Yea yea yea. Let's get going, I'm hungry." Amber said.

Nicolai and Amber searched around for a cave while I was tasked with the gathering of food, they even gave me a basket to help carry the food. Which I want to say, is going well. The only thing I've found is two Beetroots and some oyster mushrooms I found growing on a log. I actually found some leaves that I recognized from newspapers. Surprisingly when I pulled them up they turned out to be wild carrots, Which I thought only grew in places like Britain.

I returned to a little opening we agreed to come back to, only to find Amber sitting around a fire Nicolai was having trouble managing.

"Nicolai, If you want to keep a fire lasting longer use dry pieces of wood, not green foliage, also did you find somewhere to set up?" I said walking up to them with a make-shift basket full of food and dropping it.

"I knew that. I'm older than all of you and have more survival experience. and yea, we were just waiting for you to get back." Nicolai said.

"Oh, really? How old are you?" I asked.

"I am Twenty." He said proudly.

"Damnit, just because you're two years older than me doesn't you know more about survi-"

"Crane... What is this stuff?" Amber said cutting me off.

"Hmm? Oh, That is Beetroots, about ten or so Oyster mushrooms, and some wild carrots." I said looking back at the basket.

"But we asked you to get food," Amber said almost whining.

"That is food!" I said confused.

"No. That is not food, especially that mushroom. Mushrooms are extremely poisonous. And you said you knew about survival." Nicolai gloated.

"Not all mushrooms are poisonous. Watch." I said as I took a bite of one of the mushrooms.

"Huh... is it good?" Nicolai asked.

"Eehhh, kinda, but it is better when cooked," I said

"Okay... I'm going to collect some more food." He asked getting up and grabbing the basket and pouring out its contents so he could gather more.

He smiled and walked off into the forest to gather more food. I start eating my haul, after about thirty minutes later Amber and I were laying down waiting for him to get back.

"Where in the distortion world is he? I'm hungry! " Amber said seeming frustrated.

"Don't know, but I'm going to go look for him. Want to help?" I said getting up.

"Yea, I have nothing better to do." She said pushing herself off the ground.

We walked into the forest for a little before we found the basket laying on the ground with a random assortment of different berries.

"Nick?! Where are you!?" Amber yelled.

"Nick!?" Amber screamed starting to panic.

"Amber, stop screaming. It hasn't been that long, he couldn't have gotten far." I said trying to calm her down.

"B-but where is he? H-he would never just leave." Amber replied, her eyes starting to tear up.

I was about to answer when Nick walked out of some bushes holding a pink berry in his maw.

"Where were you?" I asked confused and slightly angry.

"I was looking for food." He said innocently putting the berry in the basket.

"Did you not hear me screaming?" Amber said shaking the tears from her eyes.

"Yea... Why do you think I came back here with only one berry?" He said smiling.

"Let's just go back to the fire and eat, I'm hungry," I said calmly walking back in the direction of our fire.

"Okay," Nicolai said following me, with Amber behind him.  
We walked a small bit before I saw the flickering light of our fire. I walked over to the side and sat down basking in the warmth.

"Let's eat," I said as Nicolai set down the basket.

"You can eat, Amber I want to talk to you please. Crane, don't eat all of the food." Nicolai said happily walking behind a corner, presumably for privacy.

"Okay," Amber said following Nicolai.

I began to eat the small berries and some of my haul before sitting back down next to the fire, After a few minutes, Nicolai and Amber walked out from behind the corner. Nicolai happily walked up and took a seat next to me while Amber sat opposite of me. Amber seemed extremely nervous so I decided to ask about it.

"Hey, Amber, What's wrong? You seem nervous." I asked

"Damn. So much for an ambush." Nicolai said.

"Ambush?" I asked.

Nicolai suddenly grabbed me and pushed me to the edge of the firepit.

"We have questions, Crane. And you're going to answer them. Now" Nicolai said leaning forward to where he was almost pushing me into the fire.

"Okay, man I'll answer the damn questions!" I yelled trying to push back against Nicolai, who seemed unphased by my attempts to escape.

"Amber you go first. I need to think of a question." Nicolai said holding a paw to my head as I hopelessly tried to escape the larger 'Mons grasp.

"Crane, calm down. As long as you answer the questions nothing will happen." Nicolai said happily. I relaxed a small bit, but still pushed against Nicolai just in case he loses focus

"Crane, All around your paws and fore-limbs, How did you get those scars?" Amber asked Nicolai looked at Amber in surprise before looking down at my Fore-limbs.

I guess Nicolai didn't notice them, mostly because I tried extremely hard to hide them with whatever I had around me, Usually the fur that I had naturally.

I sighed heavily and answered her, "Back where I came from, things were... Different."

"That was a horrible answer. Give more detail." Nicolai said edging me a little closer to the fire.

"Okay, Okay... Where I came from food was scarce. I was in a place where, If I wanted to survive I needed to take from others. Eventually, I didn't need to take from others, but I felt the need to help my family and friends with food, So I started a clan of sorts... we called it "The Brotherhood". I would teach others how to steal food from the people who had alot of it, But people started to catch on to what we were doing. Then they found out where we were holed up at. They gathered people up and raided our entire clan, I was in there that day. I ended up having to fight my way out of it, So I did just that, I fought. I fought tooth and nail to get myself out of there, But when I killed that first person, something inside of me... snapped. All I could see was red, And when I woke up, I was the only one left alive."

"Okay...Umm..." Amber answered Slowly.

"Is that the reason you said you were always running and fighting?" Nicolai asked holding a quizzical look.

"Yea... Pretty much. Though, I wasn't really the person running, The people that fought and destroyed my clan; they were the ones running." I said as a smile started creeping upon my face.

"I hunted them down... They took everything from me; They killed my family, They killed my friends, They even killed my clanmates... So I hunted them down. Every. Last.  **One.** " My smile soon crept upon my entire face and my eyes started to dilate, causing my vision to blur, Then everything went black.

* * *

**P.O.V: (3rd)**

* * *

**"Why... Hello there."** Crane said he lost all control of his body and Azazal took over.

"So, I assume you're Azazel," Nicolai said as he shifted his weight to get more leverage in case anything happened.

**"Ohhhhh. What a smart boy, You guessed it,"** Azazel snickered.

"I have some questions for you," Nicolai said as he put on a serious expression and edged Azazel a little closer to the fire.

**"That's just excellent, but I have some questions for you, Little Shinx,"** Azazel said turning his head towards Amber.

"How Bout' I ask questions first?" Nicolai said seriously as he pushed Azazel a small bit.

**"Oh! I love Interrogations! Come on! Lay it on me! Are you gonna do good-cop bad-Cop?"** Azazel said excitedly.

"No, I'm going to ask you some questions and you will answer them," Nicolai said seriously

**"This is boring, If you are going to interrogate me do it right, So I refuse to answer."**

"You are going to answer," Nicolai said pushing Azazel to try to intimidate him. Instead, as Nicolai went to push him, Azazel leaned to the side causing Nicolai's paw to miss and go past his face. Which Azazel then turned and bit into, and then proceeded to throw Nicolai into a tree.

**"Wrong move buddy,"**  Azazel said as he started Cackling.

"I'm sorry Crane!" Amber yelled as she jumped in front of Azazel and proceeded to headbutt his chest, causing him to stumble back and lose footing. Azazel then let out a shrill screech as he fell backward into the fire.

Nicolai jumped up and ran to the fire, Stopping next to it. Azazel continued to Screech and Scream, Rolling around and trying to get a foothold.

Azazel continued rolling and turned to Nicolai. "Nick...Please... Help me." while continuing to scream and try and escape the flames.

"Dear Arceus, Nick! Pull him out already!" Amber yelled at Nicolai.

"No," Nicolai said turning away from the fire.


	6. Bad choices

**P** **lease excuse any historical inaccuracies.**

**I do not own Pokemon. That belongs to its respective owner.**

* * *

**P.O.V: 3rd**

* * *

After a some failed attempts Azazel finally get a foothold and hauled himself out of the firepit. He collapsed on the ground a few feet away from the fire, Thankfully he was a fire type and got out quickly, the only real damage he sustained was a burn on his paws.

Nicolai walked up to Azazel and sat in front of him. "You ready to answer my questions?"

**"Fine,"**  Azazel said sourly.

"Good. Now my first question is; Yesterday, you said that you were an entity from another world. What did you mean by that?" Nicolai asked

" **What do you think dipshit? It means I came from another world."**  Azazel spat.

"You know what I meant. Answer me correctly or I'll throw you back in." Nicolai stated putting a paw on Azazels shoulder.

**"No need to do that Sparky, I'm going to answer you, Whether I want to or not. What I meant is that I came from another... "Universe," I think he called it,"**  Azazel answered

"He? Who said it was another universe?" Nicolai asked

**"The giant Llama guy, I think he said his name was Arceus,"**  Azazel said trying to get up, only to whine and lay back down due to his paws being burnt.

"Arceus?! You talked to Arceus?" Amber said suprised.

**"I'm pretty sure I did, I wasn't controlling Crane at the time so I don't know everything he said."**

"Okay Azazel, One last question. How many secrets is Crane hiding from us?" Nicolai asked

**"I can't even begin to count all of the secrets he has Sparky. He has even been able to hide a few from me somehow."**  Azazel laughed

"Why are you calling me Sparky? That is not my name." Nicolai said becoming visibly annoyed.

" **To get you to hurry up, I know how to annoy people easily. And I can't control Crane forever ya know, and I would like to ask the Blue over there a question before Crane takes back over."**  Azazel said nodding over to Amber

"Ok, Just ask your question already, I want you out of here as soon as possible," Amber said sighing.

**"Good. Now my question is; What are you going to do when Crane leaves?"**

"Crane is going to leave?" Amber asked urgently.

**"Yes. After Crane and I do some things for Arceus, He has agreed to send us home.** " Azazel said.

"No. Crane isn't going to leave, I won't let him." Amber said defensively.

**"Things don't always turn out the way you want, Blue. He will leave and you will be alone, Forever."**  Azazel said, his smile starting to slowly creep upon his face once more.

"Then I... I will... I will convince Arceus to let him stay." Amber stuttered.

**"You can try Amber, but the one you need to convince is not Arceus, it's Crane,"**  Azazel said.

"I'll find a way to convince him to stay!" Amber shouted.

**"Oh, really? How?"**  Azazel taunted.

"I'll...I'm ...I-I don't know, But I will find a way," Amber said.

**"There ain't anything you can do that will make him stay. You will be alone, Scared and hopeless for the rest of your life."**  Azazel said sneering.

"No... I won't let him." Amber said as tears started to well up in her eyes.

"Alright, asshole. Times up, You had your fun." Nicolai said angrily.

**"Alright, Sparky. Next time I must ask you to not throw me in a fire."**  Azazel said.

"No Promises." Nicolai leered.

Azazel closed his eyes and laid in silence for a few moments before going completely limp. After another thirty seconds, his eyes slowly opened as he yawned.

* * *

Cranes **Pov (1st)**

* * *

"Crane?" Someone said poking me, I slowly opened my eyes to see Nicolai standing over me.

"Hey, Nick. What happened?" I asked yawning.

"I invited your buddy to talk. It was...Informative," Nicolai said coldly.

"Oh... I'm guessing you know why I'm here then." I said trying to stand up only for a searing pain to force its way from my paws.

"What the hell did you do to me?" I asked as I laid back down to avoid touching anything with my paws.

"We might of... Thrown you, or 'Azazel'... into the fire." Nicolai said smiling.

"Why?!" I yelled

"He was being a Dick," Nicolai said turning his head away.

"Crane," Amber said, Making me turn my attention to her. It looked like she was on the verge of crying.

"What's wrong? The hell did he say?" I asked worried why she was almost in tears.

"How long were you going to wait until you tell us that you're going home after you are done doing some tasks?" Amber said sadly.

"I... I'm sorry Amber. I wanted to tell you, but...I didn't know how you would react." I said solemnly.

"Asshole!" Amber screamed sprinting into the nearby cave they had picked out.

"Amber wait! please!" I yelled trying to stand on up, only to collapse back onto the ground after a few painful steps.

I was slowly rising back up onto my paws again until I felt a paw being placed upon my head.

"Sorry Crane, but after what I've learned today, I can't allow you to be near Amber anymore. No hard feelings. Goodbye." Nicolai said before he released a powerful electric shock, Making my body to shake and spasm uncontrollably as my vision started to blur and eventually go black.

* * *

**Pov, 3rd (Following Amber)**

* * *

Nicolai walked into the small damp cave and looked to the side to see Amber laying on the ground sobbing.

"Hey, Sis, how you feeling?" Nicolai said sitting down next to her.

"Where have you been for the past two hours?" Amber said wiping the tears from her face.

"I decided to take a walk around the area to make sure no humans were near us."

"Where is Crane?" Amber asked.

"He decided to sleep outside, he should be gathering some materials for his bedding now," Nicolai said happily walking over to the middle of the cave and laying on the cool floor.

"Nick, how is Crane gathering materials if he can barely stand?" Amber asked.

"Rawst berries. I crushed some up and put it on his paws. he should still be in a little bit of pain, but not as much as before." He explained.

"Oh, Okay," Amber said as she laid her head back down on the floor and slowly drifted to sleep.

* * *

**7 hours later**

* * *

"Oi, get up," Nicolai said poking Ambers' head.

Amber whined in protest, While Nicolai just continued poking her.

"Fine, I'm getting up, just stop poking me," Amber said batting away Nicolai's paw.

"Well, hurry up, we need to get moving," Nicolai said walking over to the entrance.

"Okay, I'm going to wake up Crane!" Amber said Excitedly, getting up and sprinting to the entrance of the cave.

"Yea... About that." Nicolai said sheepishly, stepping in front of the entry.

"Nicolai... Why are you blocking me?" Amber asked.

"Crane... Decided it was best if he went alone. He wants us to go back to the Cave and wait for him." Nicolai answered.

"Why?" Amber asked.

"He said it was too dangerous and that he didn't want you to get hurt," Nicolai stated.

"Is... Is he already gone?" Amber asked on the verge of tears.

"Yes, he left this morning," Nicolai said solemnly.

"Fucking liar! You may be good at coming up with excuses, But I've lived with you for my entire life and I can tell when you lie. Now, where is he?" Amber screamed.

"Amber, You don't get it. I-" Before Nicolai could finish, Amber interrupted him.

"Nick. Where. Is. Crane?" Amber growled.

"Amber, I'm sorry, I had to do it." Nicolai reasoned.

"Wait. You 'had to do it'? What did you do to Crane?" Amber asked worriedly.

"Amber. Nothing, I didn't do-"

"Stop Lying! I can see right through it! What did you do to Crane?!" Amber screamed.

"Nothing! I didn't do Anything to him!" Nicolai yelled back.

"Then let me go after him!" Amber shouted.

"No! you can't!" Nicolai screamed.

"Why?" Amber asked pushing Nicolai, Which didn't move him a bit.

"Because I said so!" Nicolai shouted angrily.

"That's not a good reason! Let me through!" Amber yelled, putting her front paws on Nicolai's shoulders and using her back two paws to push.

"I. Said. No!" Nicolai Roared, shoving Amber. Amber, who had her front paws on Nicolais shoulders, stood upright on her back paws for a few seconds before losing balance and falling backward, smashing the back of her head against the cave wall and falling to the ground motionless.

"No no no no no," Nicolai repeated, quickly running up to Amber's motionless body.

"I'm an idiot. Why? why did I do that? Why am I such an Idiot?" Nicolai whispered to himself.

Nicolai stood over Amber for a moment before realizing that he needed to do something to fix what he did, But instead, He felt a warm liquid run down his back.  
Nicolai felt the back of his head, coating his paw in the warm liquid before pulling his paw in front of his face to look at whatever it was. Nicolai looked at his paw, Which was coated in a red fluid. Soon after he realized it was blood he began to feel a searing pain on the back of his neck, After that he quickly collapsed, with a pool of his blood slowly growing larger. After a few approaching footsteps, Crane came into his view, holding to be what seemed to be a sharp rock covered in blood in his maw.

"Do you really think you could off me that easily?" Crane asked spitting the rock out of his mouth.

"Azazel. Don't you dare. touch her." Nicolai grunted.

"No. I'm not Azazel. You do know he isn't to only person willing to kill people right?" Crane said smugly.

"What did you do to me?" Nicolai asked, losing consciousness.

"I cut the back of your neck, not too deep though. After you fall unconscious, I'll make sure you don't die from blood loss. After that, I'm going to drag Y'all back to your old clan and fix both of you up properly. Then, I'm going to go on my journey and bring anyone that wants to go with, excluding you of course." Crane stated.

"And how do you know I won't bleed out now?" Nicolai asked

"Nick. I was trained to kill people, I know when someone is or isn't going to die." Crane said smiling.

After Nicolai faded into unconsciousness, Crane sighed and checked Amber to make sure she didn't have any permanent damage, then moved on to Nicolai, Closing the wound with some leafs

"Welp. This is gonna suck." Crane said to himself, Heaving Nicolai and Amber onto his back and walking out of their makeshift dwelling.


	7. Familiar faces

**P** **lease excuse any historical inaccuracies.**

**I do not own Pokemon. That belongs to its respective owner.**

* * *

As Nicolai slowly regained consciousness, he found out that he was on a makeshift stretcher that was being pulled by Crane. Crane was pulling the makeshift stretcher by a vine that he had tied around his waist. Crane at the moment was talking to Amber, completely oblivious that Nicolai had woken up. Nicolai decided to lay in silence and listen in on what they were talking about before making it known that he was awake.

"So... He really did try and kill you?" Amber asked

"Yes, but it's not like he's the first person to try," Crane answered nonchalantly.

"What has gotten into him? He's never done anything to hurt me or someone else before." Amber said Worriedly.

"People change Amber, you have to remember that. But it does worry me, he seems like a nice guy." Crane said

"How long till we get there? It's getting pretty late." Amber asked, trying to change the subject.

"We are about a kilometer away," I replied.

"I said how long. Not how far." Amber said rolling her eyes.

"Okay... We are walking slower than normal because I have to lug around Nick... So about twenty to twenty-five minutes." I clarified.

"Hey... since Nicks knocked out, I want to show you something. Just drop him off here and follow me." Amber stated happily.

"Okay?" Crane said slightly confused. Crane untied the vine from his waist and covered Nicolai with some foliage to hide him from any passerby.  
As soon as Crane followed Amber through some bushes and out of sight, Nicolai shot up and quietly followed them. He made sure to be a close enough to hear what they were doing or saying, but far enough to stay out of their sight. Unbeknownst to him, Crane already knew he was awake the moment he untied the vine from his waist.

* * *

**P.O.V: 1st (Amber)**

* * *

As soon as Crane and I reached a small forest clearing, Crane stopped and leaned towards me.

"Nick is following us, do you think we can outrun him?" He whispered.

"Haven't tried, Don't know if we can outsmart him either. Got any ideas?" I whispered back.

"Yea... I got one. Follow me very closely." Crane said smiling.

"Okay..." I said uneasily, not knowing what Crane was going to do.

"On the count of three."

"One."

"Two"

"Three!" Crane sprinted to the side. I tried to follow him as close as I could, But it wasn't easy, mostly because we were Zigzagging around in random directions.  
Crane skidded to a halt and laid flat on his belly, instructing me to do the same. After a minute or two of silence, Crane stood back up as I turned to him.

"We lost him, that was fun, we should do it again," I said joyfully.

"How... Can you... Be so happy?" Crane wheezed out, trying not to fall over from overexertion.

"I used to love things that would get the adrenaline pumping, guess I still kind of like it," I answered, Calming down.

"Okay... Where did you want to go?" Crane asked.

"Oh! Follow me, it's just over here." I said walking through the foliage with Crane right behind me.

"So... Were are we going?" Crane asked.

"We are going to an old safehouse that I used as a hideout when I wanted to be alone," I said.

We neared a small opening in the foliage which held a small stone arch, hidden be moss and vines.

"Why are you bringing me to it if you use it to be alone?" Crane asked.

"Because I want to grab something... and I don't mind being alone with you for a while," I said brushing up against Crane, who went completely still.

"I think I should stay out here and guard the entrance, you go grab whatever you need," Crane said waving his paw for me to hurry.

"Crane come on, I want to show you something," I said Rolling my eyes and pushing through the moss and vines into my small one-room hideout, which was completely dark, but surprisingly dry for a cave somewhat close to Ilex pond.

Crane slowly entered the room and looked around, which was no use, seeing how it was almost pitch black.

"Could you use a fire-type move to light up the fireplace in here?" I asked.

"Ummm..." Crane said sheepishly.

"Crane... You do know a fire-type move don't you?" I questioned.

"Ummm... possibly?" Crane answered.

"What do you mean possibly?" I asked confused.

"I don't know how to use a move," Crane said.

"Are... You serious?" I said dumbfounded.

"Yes," Crane said.

"Okay... So, what you need to do is think about what you want to do." I started explaining.

"What do I want to do?" Crane asked.

"Just... Ugggg" I groaned, putting my head in my paws.

"How about this?" Crane said pulling a glowing crystal from his tail.

_'I need to ask how he had that in his tail later.'_  I thought to myself.

"It'll do," I said grabbing it from him and placing it inside the fireplace. I inhaled and Readied myself, gathering the natural energy produced in my body and focusing it into a single bolt of electricity, aimed directly at the glowing shard in the fireplace.

**{Amber used Thunder Bolt} [It was super effective!]**

The crystal exploded in flames, igniting the wood under it. The room was bathed in light, revealing a slab of rock with some dried grass and hay which was the bed, a flat stone table and a firepit for cooking as well as a treasure chest-like box.

"There we are," I said walking over to the box and opening it. Inside were arranged stones, a broken pokéball, photo of me and my family, a small shiny red crystal, and a satchel. I grabbed the sachel and put the photo inside it, then grabbed the crystal in my maw and brung it over to Crane, who was sitting near the table.

"Do you know what this is?" I asked putting the small crystal in front of him.

"No. Should I?" Crane asked looking at the crystal.

"Yes, you should... It's called a Firestone and when you touch it causes you to evolve." I said

"Okay?" Crane said confused.

"I'm bringing it with us," I said.

"Okay..." Crane said even more confused than before.

"Crane, You don't know what you evolve into?" I asked.

"No, I don't," Crane answered.

"Well... You really are an idiot." I said laughing.

Nicolai suddenly burst through the hideout entrance and skidded to a stop in front of me.

"Why the hell did I hear an explosion?!" Nicolai yelled.

"Because Crane doesn't know how to use any moves, so I blew up a glowing crystal," I said happily

"Crane doesn't know how to use moves?" Nicolai asked turning to Crane.

"Nope." I giggled.

Nicolai burst out in laughter as Crane just awkwardly looked at the floor.

"Hey, It's not my fault." Crane said timidly.

"Ha! You're never going to live that down, Let's get moving to the cave." Nicolai said laughing.

"Yea, let's head out already," Crane said trying to divert the attention away from him.

"Yea, let's get going, I want to get there before it goes completely dark," I said hoping to the entrance.

Nicolai nodded and followed me, while Crane jogged up next to me. We walked in silence for a while before finally reaching a semi-large cave opening leading to the old clan.

"Ready to meet Keil again Crane?" I teased Crane.

"Uggg, thanks for reminding me" Crane grunted.

"You're welcome!" I said happily.

Crane rolled his eyes and started walking forward through the cave entrance.

* * *

**P.O.V 3rd (Crane)**

* * *

The inside of the cave looked almost the same as they left it, The only difference is that there was a black and red fox-like Pokémon talking to Keil.  
Keil tuned to look at the group that just arrived, but as soon as his eyes met Cranes, he seemed to back down from the conversation he was having with the Fox Pokémon and slink away to a different room. The small Fox-like Pokémon walked up to the group happily.

"Hey! You guys were previous members of this clan right?" The Pokemon asked.

"Yes, but we came back due to some injuries, I'm going to inform Crystal that we are here," Nicolai said walking past the new Pokémon.

"Oi, Tell Crystal that I'm leaving soon to go look for someone!" The pokémon said to Nicolai, who nodded in confirmation.

"Who are you looking for?" Amber asked.

"Oh! excuse my manners. I forgot to introduce myself" The Pokémon apologized.

"It's fine," Crane said.

"My name is Mike. Mike Smith. I'm looking for a friend that goes by the name of Crane Orso." Mike said.

"Wha- I-I'm Crane," Crane said in disbelief.

"Really? I expected more of you than this." Mike joked.

"Wait. That is Mike? I thought you said Mike died!" Amber asked.

"Huh? Oh, yea... We both died, didn't we?" Mike said.

"Wait, Crane, you died too?" Amber asked confused.

"It's a long story, I'd rather not get into it now," Crane said.

"Come on Crane, just tell me," Amber said pushing me annoyingly.

"Damn Crane, I got separated from you for two days and you already got yourself a girl." Mike joked.

"Well, at least I didn't try to run between cover while taking enemy fire," Crane said, making Amber even more curious at what Crane was hiding from them..

"Watch out Crane, you keep talking like that your ego is going to crush us." Mike smiled.

"Why hello again Crane and Amber!" Crystal yelled skipping into the main room with Nicolai.

"Hello Crystal," Amber replied.

"Oh! I believe Keil has something to say to you both." Crystal said turning to a room and entering it, then coming out with Keil following her.

"Keil." Crystal urged.

"I can do it myself, Crystal. I'm not a child." Keil spat.

"Just do it then." Crystal said sweetly.

"Look. Crane, Amber. I wanted to say sorry for my actions." Keil apologized.

"Eh. Don't worry about it." Crane said waving a paw.

"You forgive me? Already?" Keil said suprised.

"Yea, I try not to hold a grudge," Crane replied.

"You never change, do you? I bet if a Nazi said sorry you'd forgive 'em." Mike stated.

"Oi, that's different!" Crane yelled trying to defend himself.

"Yea? what else did you forgive them for?" Mike asked

"I forgave Amber for throwing me in a fire... And I forgave Nick for trying to kill me" Crane said sheepishly.

"Are you serious?" Mike, asked.

"Yup," Crane replied.

"Dear Arceus, are you two always like this together?" Nicolai groaned.

"I feel sorry for you Nick. I wouldn't be able to handle traveling with Crane" Keil told Nicolai.

"That's something I want to talk about... Crane, Amber, I stay here." Nicolai said.

Amber was shocked by Nicolai's words while Crane just nodded happily.

"Wait. Y'all are leaving?" Mike asked.

"Yup, we have to do some adventuring," Crane replied.

"I'm guessing you want to go with them and not stay here?" Crystal stated.

"Pffff. Of course, I'm going with Crane, he needs someone to get his ass out of trouble." Mike laughed

"Quite a vulgar one, aren't you?" Crystal stated.

"Yup!" Mike said joyfully.

"When we going?" Mike asked.

Crane looked around to see everyone was waiting for him to answer.

"why are you looking at me?" Crane asked

"Because you're the leader of the group," Amber stated.

"Said who?!" Crane asked.

"I just thought it was kind of obvious now that Nicolai isn't coming with," Amber said.

"Well then... I guess we can leave tomorrow, so for now, let's sleep." Crane said yawning.

"Roger that... Where do I sleep?" Mike asked.

"Hmm... We don't have enough beds for everyone, so one of you will have to sleep together or in the main room." Crystal stated.

"I'll sleep in the main room," Nicolai said.

"Okay... good night." Crystal said yawning after a few moments everyone separated and walked into their respective rooms to sleep.

* * *

**(3 hours later)**

**POV; 1st (Nicolai)**

* * *

"Oi, Crane. Get up, I want to talk to you." I said, poking Crane on his foreleg. Crane slowly opened his eyes and upon seeing me, sighed heavily.

"Is it already morning?" Crane asked as he yawned.

"No," I answered.

"Then why the hell did you wake me up?" Crane grumbled irritably.

"I... Just wanted to ask you for a favor before you left," I stated sheepishly.

"And why couldn't you wait till morning to tell me?" Crane asked.

"Because my request is more... Personal. You are the only person that I want to know about it," I stated, sitting down.

Crane raised an eyebrow looked at me questioningly.

"When Y'all are all done with your adventuring, you are coming back to the cave right?" I asked.

"Yea why?" Crane stated.

"Well when you do get back, I won't be there. I need you to explain to Amber that... I'm never coming back." I said solemnly.

"Why would you leave?" Crane asked.

"Y'all are going on your adventures. I think it's about time I went out into the world. Two years after Amber hatched, our parents left and I was forced to take care of Amber. I've been aching to go on an adventure, but I've always had something more important that I needed to protect."

"And you would do that to your little sister?" Crane asked, getting up and stretching.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Leave her," Crane said, yawning again and then sitting.

"I-I don't want to leave her, but I want to get out there and find someone to love. I want the kind of relationship you and Amber have." I spoke. I actually began to tear up at the thought of having to leave Amber.

Crane sighed and stood up,  
"Look... If you want to come with us... You can, But if you find someone along the way then don't be afraid to follow them instead. I promise you that I will protect Amber with my life."

"I... I can go with Y'all? Even after what I did?" I asked.

"Look, as long as you don't do it again I'm completely fine with you coming along, can't say the same about Azazel though" Crane stated.

"T-Thank you man," I said, doing a pokémon equivalent of a hug.

"Another rule; never hug me again," Crane stated shoving me away.

"Roger that, Night," I said, heading out of Crane's room.

As soon as I got to my room, I hopped onto my makeshift bed and slowly drifted to sleep. The excitement from finally going out on an adventure trying to keep me awake. Then the disappointment of basically begging to Crane like a child quickly stifled any lingering excitement. I smiled as I slowly drifted into unconsciousness, joyfully waiting to start a new grand adventure that will lead to something, or someone special.


End file.
